Help! Understanding Age Ratings!

reply to post by galadofwarthethird


Well we went and got Halo4, and it seems fine enough...I like the look of it and the story is sound...he's barely noticed Cortana and her scantily-cladness, as I predicted I know my boy only too well! It is quite intense, concentration wise. He gets quite flushed the more intense the concentration required...I presume due to the amount of work his brain is doing, but I am not sure whether that is a good or a bad thing...but if his cheeks gets too red, whatever the game is, I tend to call for a break, just to be on the safe side.

On a side note, the set up for XBox Live is a nightmare...and since I didn't think to write every single password and passcode down, I had to redo all of that...hours out of my life, but on the upside, when I eventually cracked and contacted technical support via my laptop, they called me back within a minute and were fabulous! The lovely lady I spoke to even sent him some free games to marketplace. I was hugely impressed. He can now play and chat happily to his friends and I am assured that I can keep a tight control of things that I do not think are suitable etc.

Thanks again for your help and advice. Very much appreciated, I am a total doofus when it comes to this stuff and I am so appreciative of all of you helping me scratch my way out of the dark

I would say Halo is suitable for a kid as it is just killing aliens. I think the only reason it is a 16 is the mild violence and the occasional swear word.

reply to post by KilgoreTrout


All you need to do now is play some split-screen multiplayer together, then your son will have to start keeping his eye on you and kicking you off when you look tired or flushed lol

reply to post by KilgoreTrout

Oh ya the x-box life setup is a nightmare, I had to redo it some weeks ago and I think they changed there whole thing, that and I have like 3 or 4 different profiles in the x-box live and on the computer Microsoft games for windows and I think the two are interchangeable, it confused me because I was trying to get back into my old X-box life profile but I could not remember my password or the ID for any of them, it was a pain let me tell you. However setting up a new account was pretty easy.

But it almost sounds like you son never played videogames before, if he gets flustered over Halo then I don't know what to say. You know I pissed off a few British people on Halo3 and 2 plus a few other games, they called me wanker and a bunch of other things that I could not understand, and did not know were insults. I told them to speak English and quit momo jombo unintelligent jabbering. Which off course pissed them off more, then I think me and my team totally owned them, no joke they were dying left and right, like boom headshot. I had to stop a little because I was starting to feel sorry for them, they were literally screaming and getting all flusters over nothing, I think before the whole match ended they rage quit dropped out of the game. What can I say, sometimes I just cant help it, and they did have a funny accent.

But anyways, maybe Halo or the first person shooter thing is not for you kid, if hes the more bookish type he probably only really got the game because all friends play it and it was a peer pressure type of thing, trust me once he is done with Halo which may not be for a while he probably will move on to something else. I would probably recommend he try rpgs he sounds like the type that would enjoy those type of games more, and if he really has the patience and wants a challenge he should try Dark Souls, definitely one of the best action RPG's out in a long while, people say that game is hard.

But really most people do not have the patience for it. Its not like Halo which there used to and have there mentality set to, you cant just run in there guns blazing and things happen, its more of a think beforehand and plan game, really all you need is a little patience to learn the enemies move patterns and it becomes much easier. Its a whole different type of thing then Halo, and there are plenty of other games out there to, most you could pick up for really cheap, most kids want the newer things but really there are a whole bunch of older games which you can get for really cheap now that are as good if not better then the newer games. In fact got two older games which came out years ago and are really great games for 5$ each some weeks ago, if he gets bored of Halo don't be afraid to hit the bargain bin at you local videogame store, some of those older games are way better then some of the new games out there today.

reply to post by Kurokage


Don't go giving him any ideas...he told me last night that I looked tired and shouldn't I be going to bed...evidently my bags had bags

reply to post by galadofwarthethird


I think you and I have a different understanding of what 'flushed' means. He wasn't flustered, his cheeks were rosie...you know like how you get when you have had some physical exertion...that kind of thing. He loves the game and killing the Elite...

He was playing mostly platform games before...I think that is what you call them, not sure...the Lego ones mainly. I got him the Lego LOTRs for Christmas, and he had completed it within 4 hours...which is why I thought he was ready for something a little 'older' and more challenging. Not sure about RPGs, he liked Skyrim...which was another one with confusing information about age ratings...but his friend's father, whom I trust, said that it was okay, and having gone through it, I didn't see too much harm...I think maybe because, technically, you can 'steal' things...evidently that is the sort of thing that can effect ratings...moral dilemmas and the such like. As I have said before, it is the FPS that tend to get me a little uneasy...but I am reasonably assured that the action isn't too intense and absorbing...my previous experience had been with MOH and COD...so I think maybe I was being a little too judgemental in the comparison.

Again, many thanks for your taking the time to give me such detailed advice. It has been very helpful.

Who knew I'd be so proud to hear my sweet little boy utter the words..."Look Mum, I did a 'head shot'"

Originally posted by KilgoreTrout
Who knew I'd be so proud to hear my sweet little boy utter the words..."Look Mum, I did a 'head shot'"

Oh ouch, and that's how it starts. Better watch him or he will turn into whats depicted in the bellow video, believe me I was that guy for a while. For a kid that stuff can get a bit addictive, some even make songs about it...It's like BOOM head shoot.

reply to post by KilgoreTrout


The sweetest word any gamer can utter!!

Originally posted by galadofwarthethird
Oh ouch, and that's how it starts. Better watch him or he will turn into whats depicted in the bellow video, believe me I was that guy for a while. For a kid that stuff can get a bit addictive, some even make songs about it...It's like BOOM head shoot.

I think that you understand me well enough to know that ain't going to happen in the fore-seeable future. He's not a bad shot though, but he prefers it when he can get up close and smash them with the butt of his gun. He has a wicked sense of humour and is seemingly taking it in his stride, none too seriously...which I think is a good thing. Time will of course tell and I remain vigilant